A Chinese defense company and its Cambodian partner have begun developing an industrial park on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, strengthening China’s foothold in the kingdom’s defense sector.
Cambodia’s defense minister Tea Seiha, who is also a deputy prime minister, presided over a groundbreaking ceremony for the C-01 industrial park, on Monday in Kandal province outside the capital, according to a press release from his ministry.
The 132-hectare industrial park is a joint project between the ministry’s General Department of Materials and Technology and Chinese company Sageras Defense (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. the ministry said in its release. It did not disclose the total investment.
The C-01 industrial park, in Angk Snuol district, will have a large dry port, industrial areas, commercial multi-purpose buildings, water treatment and storage systems, as well as accommodation for workers and green areas.
A dry port is an inland logistics hub with all the functions of a seaport, connected to seaports via roads, railways, or inland waterways.
Defense-related industries
A Cambodian source familiar with the investment plan said that the planned construction area for the dry port, heavy and light industrial areas and commercial buildings would be about 650,000 square meters, or 65 hectares, half of the total designated area.
The source declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the project.
It is not clear what the rest of the land will be used for.
The park is close to the 350-hectare Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, a Cambodian‑Japanese joint venture, but the C-01 project will “contribute to enhancing the capabilities of the Cambodian defense sector,” the defense ministry said.
The developers are working on infrastructure and seeking operational licenses for the dry port, the ministry added.
The C-01 industrial park is at a prime location, only 26 kilometers (16 miles) from Phnom Penh’s main airport and 50 km (30 miles) from a new airport that is under construction.
The park is 205 km (125 miles) from Cambodia’s main seaport in Sihanoukville and 200 km (125 miles) from the China-funded Ream naval base.
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Mysterious Chinese company
Radio Free Asia’s efforts to search for information on Sageras Defense (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. yielded no results but RFA’s open source team found a company called Sargeras Defense (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. – a newly registered entity at an address in the Chbar Ampov district of central Phnom Penh.
Cross-checks with publicly available data on Chinese social media such as Douyin and WeChat indicated that Sargeras Defense is the Chinese partner in the C-01 industrial park project.
The company was registered with the Cambodian commerce ministry in February 2024 so the process of negotiating and granting an investment license appears to have been expedited.
The company’s scope of activities has not been made public but internet searches point to the production of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, commonly called drones, as well as drone countermeasures.
China has a strong UAV industry that serves both commercial and military needs. The U.S. Treasury has put several Chinese UAV firms on its sanction list for their involvement in the development and production of drones for Russian military use in the Ukraine war.
China is the largest foreign investor in Cambodia and has provided loans to many major infrastructure projects via the Belt and Road Initiative.
As of October 2024, Cambodia had more than 2,300 industrial factories, half of which received investment from China of US$9 billion in total, according to the Kingdom’s industry ministry.
Edited by Mike Firn